Presented by: Socialist Alternative

IN DOWNTOWN RIVER FALLS

Documentary Film Screening: Sunday, April 27, 2008

At Hot Spot @ 7:30 p.m.

SUMMARY: If Barbara Kopple had made no other film than this documentary account of the 1974 strike of Kentucky mine workers, arguably one of the finest documentaries ever made in the U.S. and possibly the best on the problems of organized labor, her place in film history would be assured. The strike began when the miners working for the Eastover Mining Co. joined the UMW, and its corporate parent, Duke Power, refused to sign the standard union contract. By living with the 180-odd families involved in the strike, Kopple shows the backbreaking burdens of the miners' life in the best of times and the looming fear of destitution in the worst. As the strikers strive to remain united through a difficult year, Kopple photographs the picketing, the company's use of state troopers to keep the roads open for scabs, the showdowns between the miners and strikebreakers brandishing firearms.

The Oscar-winning HARLAN COUNTY, USA is a landmark in the history of American documentary filmmaking.

Awards:

1976: Academy Award - won best documentary, features.

1977: Los Angeles Film Critics Awards - won best documentary.

1991: Named to the National Film Registry by Library of Congress.

2007: Named one of the top five documentaries of all time by the International Documentaries Association.